Campfires
by Lee-Jane
Summary: Between all of the action, there was a lot of down time, and a lot of campfires. When the Digidestined weren't fighting to save the world, they were just a bunch of kids, camping out in the middle of nowhere and trying to get along. Follows the Frontier Story line. All characters are involved.
1. Between Ep 4 and 5

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The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The four children and two digimon had managed to walk quite a good distance since they left Breezy Village after getting their fill of food and drink. They had hoped to wait for a Trailmon to come through, but the Floramon had warned that it could take months for the next one to arrive. The village didn't see much traffic ever since the Mushroommon Brothers had started terrorizing the place. They were glad that the whole situation was behind them now, and Izumi promised they'd see more traffic soon. At the very least, she was going to spread the word of how wonderful that little town was.

Their tummies were grumbling by the time they stopped, and although it seemed they were definitely headed in the right direction, there still weren't many trees about for shelter.

"I really hope it doesn't rain tonight," Takuya speculated off-handedly as he walked about trying to find firewood.

"Then maybe we just shouldn't sleep here tonight," Junpei whined.

"Do you see anywhere else for us to stay? It's not exactly like there's a hotel nearby!"

Takuya was getting frustrated with Junpei. The older boy may act like he was more mature than him, but he sure complained a lot. Heck, it seemed like Junpei complained more than Tomoki. Usually the youngest of them mentioned his feet hurt, or that he was tired, or that he missed his mom. Junpei was just out-right whiny. It didn't help that Takuya was feeling tired as well. Junpei and Takuya managed to get enough wood for a fire before killing each other. It took them both a while to set up the fire since neither of them had ever actually had to make one before. The night prior, they stayed with the Candlemon and they had made a fire for them.

"ARG!" Takuya yelled as the sticks collapsed. "Can't we just throw it all together or something? What's it matter if we're just gonna burn it!"

"We want the fire to last as long as possible. If you just throw them together, the fire could smother. Maybe if we get some rocks to help the sticks stay up..."

"Oh, now you wanna get rocks? I thought you were tired, Junpei," Takuya snickered.

"I am! But if we're gonna do this, we should do it right!"

"Whateveeeer."

While the boys tried to get a fire started, Izumi, Tomoki, Bokomon, and Neemon were off by a nearby stream collecting water and trying to see if they could catch some fish for dinner. They were failing.

"I don't really like fish anyway," Tomoki mumbled after attempting to grab a fish with his bare hands and missing.

"We don't really have the luxury of being picky, Tomoki," Izumi said with a sigh. She had tried to come up with a way to make a fishing pole. She found a stick just fine, but the twine... That was the hard part.

"Why don't you just freeze the stream?" Neemon asked. The way Bokomon sighed and began ranting made it seem like Neemon's idea was terrible, but Tomoki was tired and hungry enough to give it a shot anyway. He spirit evolved to Kumamon and blew a breath of ice onto the water's surface, hoping that would do the trick. A few breaths later, and a good portion of the stream was frozen solid.

"Yeah! It worked!" Tomoki exclaimed excitedly, looking at his handy work. But Izumi just sighed.

"Yeah, it did... but how are we suppose to get the fish out now?"

Kumamon looked from the frozen stream to Izumi before running off to get Takuya. Izumi sighed again.

Takuya managed to focus fire enough to cut the fish out of the frozen stream.

"Wow this is seriously thick, man," Agunimon commented as he worked to cut the fish out of the stream.

"Cha, seriously did a number there," came Junpei's reply. "Hope it thaws by morning."

"Why?" Tomoki asked, finally looking away from Agunimon's task.

"How else are we suppose to get cleaned up?"

"Oh..." Tomoki hung his head. Junpei was just saying it matter-of-factly, but Tomoki still felt bad about it. He hadn't thought about how to get the fish out of the stream once he froze it, and he also hadn't thought about how a frozen stream would hinder them. This was just another instance the showed just how young he really was.

"It'll be fine," Izumi told him in a gentle voice. "Don't worry about it. You did manage to get the fish, right?"

"Yeah!" Maybe there had been unforseen consequences, but he still managed to do what he'd been hoping to do. It wasn't a complete screw up.

"Ug! Think that's enough?" Agunimon complained once he'd finished cutting six fish out. It was one for each of them. That'd be plenty, right?"

"It'll have to do," Izumi huffed. Something was better than nothing, after all. "You two did get the fire started, right?" The looks on Junpei and Agunimon's faces suggested that no, they had not.

"I'll get it, I'll get it!" Agunimon yelped as he rushed over to the fire to start it. One attack set the sticks on fire alright, but it was huge and almost out of control. "Uhhhh..."

Sometime later, after the campfire was made and controlled, and the fish thawed and cooked, the four humans and two digimon sat about the slowly dying flames with full bellies and tired eyes.

"We're gonna need to sleep in rounds," Takuya said with a yawn.

"But we're all tired!" came Junpei's complaint.

"Well yeah, but I mean we're not exactly hidden here." Takuya gestured to the area around them. There were a few trees here and there, and the stream, but the group was most definitely out in the open. The night before had been spent with the Candlemon, so all of the group could sleep with the Digimon watching over them and keeping them protected. This was definitely a much different case.

"You seriously think we'll be attacked out here?"

"It's entirely possible, young man," Bokomon said in his condenscending tone. "Cherubimon has minions everywhere. You never know when one might attack."

"Yeah, but what are we suppose to do? Me and Takky only sleep half the night?"

"Uhhhh, I can do a watch too, you know," Izumi scoffed.

"What? No, you can't!" Junpei sounded almost indignant.

"Oh, and why not? I have eyes. I can see at night."

"W-what no, I just mean that you're... you know..."

"I'm what, Junpei?"

Junpei was leaning away from Izumi nervously, trying to look anywhere but at her. She was glaring right at him, not at all backing down.

"Ok, so we have three to switch off. That's not so bad," Takuya said good naturedly, trying to ease some of the tension.

"Well... what about me?" Tomoki asked hesitantly. Izumi and Junpei stopped their interaction to look over at the youngest.

"Tomoki... I don't know," Izumi finally said, frowning at the boy.

"Yeah little man, you kinda need your sleep."

Tomoki pushed out his bottom lip. He wanted to pull his weight too. Losing sleep wasn't good, and having four people switch off was better than three, right? He looked over at Takuya, hoping he'd have a different opinion.

"Sorry, Tomoki. I'm with them," he replied with an apologetic shrug. Well, that was that then.

The three played rock, paper, scissors to see who took the first watch, and then again for the second. Takuya ended up first, then it would be Junpei, and Izumi to finish out the night. It was relatively quiet when Takuya's watch came to an end, and he woke up Junpei. The eldest wasn't thrilled about being woken up, complaining that he just needed a few more minutes and that Takuya should be able to wait that long. Finally after much eye rolling and some mild name calling, Junpei took up his watch and Takuya settled down to sleep. Several hours later, Izumi woke with a start to realize that Junpei never woke her up for her watch. He'd fallen asleep at the fire, which was now dead. She rolled her eyes, as she got up to take over.

It definitely was not the most successful camp-out, but considering it was their first of many, it could have been a lot worse. They'd get use to the walking and the fighting, they'd become more familiar with making fires and gathering food, and they would get use to each other. But until then, they'd probably pass out right after eating and bicker until the sun rose.


	2. Between Ep 5 and 6

"How did we even get this far off track?" Izumi wondered as she plopped down where she stood. The gang had been following along the trailmon tracks, trying to make their way to the Forest Terminal. Somehow they wandered away from the tracks and ended up in a sort of desert area. There, they found a factory and eventually found Junpei's spirit while helping the Digimon there. Now, though, they were trying to find their way back to the tracks.

The sun was setting, and still the tracks were nowhere in sight.

"I can spirit evolve and see if I can spot anything from the sky," Junpei announced enthusiastically.

"Buddy, spirit evolving the first time takes a lot out of you. How are you still full of energy like this? Man!" Takuya plopped down next to Izumi with a huff, and Tomoki soon followed suit.

"I'm just pumped is all. Wait... you guys aren't seriously thinking of camping here are you?"

"Well, do you see any other options, hmmmm?" Bokomon inquired. No, Junpei sincerely didn't see another option.

"But there's nothing around... no stream, trees... nothing!"

"Yes, we see that." Bokomon huffed as he pulled his book out from his pink waist band. "You lot see if you can make some sort of fire. I'll see if there's any information about this area. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to stumble across a map."

"A map?" Izumi questioned. "Don't you know the way to the Forest Terminal? You live here after all."

"Do _you_ know the way to all the areas in_ your_ world?" Bokomon's tone was frustrated and offended, and Izumi rolled her eyes as her way of answering.

"Right, ok, fire." Takuya pushed himself up with a grunt, then started off in one direction with Izumi following him. Then Junpei and Tomoki picked another.

Sometime later, the four returned to the Digimon with the makings of a decent fire in their hands. Junpei brought stones as well.

"If we make a circle around the sticks, the sticks can probably stand up a little easier," he informed them as he placed the stones around in a circle.

"Yeah, that's great and all... but what are we going to cook?" Izumi pondered, though her tone sounded more like she was reminding the boys that they had nothing to eat rather than asking what to cook.

"Didn't you eat your fill at the factory?" Bokomon mused from behind his book.

"We're growing kids! We burn up energy!" Takuya mouthed off.

"So it would seem... Well, the book isn't saying much about directions, but it does say there should be some sort of plant around that's edible. And some insects if you want to dig."

The resounding 'Yech!' told Bokomon the lot really did not want to dig.

"Oh, a plant?" Neemon asked from off to the side.

"Yes, that's what I said, you nitwit!"

"I think I found one!"

Neemon held up a rather large fruit that he ripped off a stem coming out of the ground. It was green and had small spines all over the thing.

"Hmmm, yes that's what the picture looked like."

"Then we just need to find more!" Tomoki exclaimed, jumping up to his feet.

"Yeah! Let's get us some grub!" Takuya agreed. Izumi was so exhausted that she said she'd just watch the fire that was glowing pleasantly before her. Junpei said he'd also stay.

Bokomon was looking through the book again, mumbling something or other to himself now and then. Neemon sometimes commented, though his comments earned him anything from a stern look to a waist band snap.

Junpei hummed to himself as he poked at the fire.

"You seem like you're in a really good mood," Izumi commented with a small, tired smile.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Any reason why?"

Junpei turned to look at her, a perplexed look on his face. After a moment, he shrugged. "Well, wouldn't you be?"

"Be what? Excited?"

"Yeah."

"About... what?"

Junpei smiled at her before looking back at the fire. "I was always left out a lot at home and school, y'know? I mean I don't exactly look all that popular, right?" Junpei chuckled. If Izumi had a comment about that, Junpei didn't give her enough time to say it before he went on. "I mean it's not really that I want to fight or anything. I'm a lover, not a fighter!" That earned a groan from Izumi. "I'm just glad I'm not left out this time. I'm part of the team too."

"Well duh, of course you are. We're all in this together."

"Yeah... thanks, Z."

Izumi was about to ask what he was thanking her for when she heard distant yells from Takuya and Tomoki.

"We brought dinner, guys! Get ready to chow down!"

It turned out you had to skin the fruit before eating it since the spines along the surface of the fruit were actually meant to hurt you. Neemon found that out the hard way. After peeling the skins off of the fruits, the group had quite a good meal. The fruit stored water, and it acted as both their food source and water source all at once. They really had gotten quite lucky.

This camp out had gone a lot better than the last one, and while they were all still tired, none of them were about to pass out like the night before. They sat around talking for a while, wondering how long it would take them to find the tracks again, how long after that to find the Forest Terminal.

"If my estimates are correct," Bokomon started, "then there should be a village not too far from where we left the tracks. If we can find them tomorrow, then hopefully we'll be able to stay in a town for the night instead of out in the open."

"That'd be nice," Tomoki commented, smiling at the idea of a real bed.

"Yeah, and maybe we can stock up on supplies," Izumi mentioned. "Not having to forage for food every night would be nice."

"And water! I've never had such a hard time staying hydrated before," Junpei whined, rubbing the back of his neck. There were sounds of agreement from all the humans.

It wasn't much longer before there was yawning. Junpei offered to take the first watch, still pumped from finding his spirit. As everyone settled down to sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if they were meant to stray from the tracks. It brought him to his spirit after all. Maybe it really was destiny, as Takuya kept mentioning.

Junpei was grateful when Takuya took over his watch. Sometime during the night, his spirit evolution finally took its toll on him, and he was wiped! He couldn't remember the last time he slept so well.


	3. Between Ep 12 and 13

Junpei still wasn't use to having Kouji around. This really was only their third night even having the guy around. Alright, no, that was a lie. He'd been around when they were helping those Digimon out on the mountain, but Kouji hadn't really been part of the team then. Junpei still didn't consider the warrior of light part of the team. The guy was grouchy, rude, arrogant, completely anti-social, and he thought trying to get Izumi's spirit back was a waste of time! How could anyone be alright with this guy on their team?

Junpei huffed as he gathered firewood, glaring at Kouji's back as the other boy did the same. They were in the Forest Kingdom now according to Bokomon. It certainly felt like it since they were surrounded by trees. It was a lot easier finding places to camp out here rather than when they were still trying to find the place. Food was a lot easier to find too, and so was water. It was all around the best camping experience he'd had since coming to the Digital World... Kouji and all.

"I think we've got enough," Kouji sounded off, breaking through Junpei's thoughts. The older boy jumped a little, almost dumping his armful of sticks to the ground. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Kouji raised a black eyebrow.

"Nothing! You're just so freaking quiet. Make some noise, would ya?!" Junpei yelped in a fluster. Not only was this guy frustrating and annoying, he was ridiculously quiet.

"Or you could just pay attention."

"Why you-!"

"Boys! Hurry up! We've gathered the meat apples!" Izumi called from back at their camp. Junpei was ready to knock this guy into next week when she'd yelled, so really she only saved him. Junpei shifted and huffed as he headed back, Kouji not far behind him.

Takuya was passed out - and rightfully so. Not only had he gotten his beast spirit, but he also fought Gigasmon. He got Tomoki's spirit back after Grumblemon stole it, and even grabbed the warrior of earth's beast spirit. It was pretty amazing, really. And it was definitely no wonder that he was laying flat on his back, snoring like a champion. They'd have to wake him up so he could eat, and that probably wouldn't be a fun task.

"Well someone looks comfortable," Junpei mumbled.

"He needs his sleep," Izumi sighed.

"Yeah, I know." Junpei wasn't sure why he was complaining. Maybe he was just irritable since Kouji was around. He really hated that guy.

Kouji was already setting his sticks up to make a fire. Junpei was usually the one who did it since he'd gotten good at it, and now this guy was taking over his job!

"I can do it," Junpei said a little more harshly than he'd intended. That earned a raised brow not only from Kouji, but from Izumi and Bokomon as well.

"Ok... then do it," Kouji eventually said, stepping away from the half made fire. Junpei huffed, mumbled something about the sticks not being right, then set down to make the fire. Kouji rolled his eyes. Junpei had been on his case since he'd gotten his beast spirit two days before, and it was getting old.

Kouji stretched his arms above his head for a moment before heading over to where Izumi and Tomoki were sitting, getting their meat apples ready to cook. They were skewering the apples on sticks they'd somewhat sharpened.

"Need any help?" Kouji asked after watching them poke sticks through the apples a couple of times.

"I think we're almost done," Tomoki responded, looking at the couple of apples they had left.

"Yeah, it was a lot easier to do it this time," Izumi said enthusiastically. "Live and learn!"

"Yeah, I guess," came Kouji's reply. Kouji watched Izumi for a moment, rather surprised at how energetic she seemed. He wasn't sure if he could be that full of energy if he'd been the one to lose his spirit. He'd probably be hating himself, thinking of all the ways he'd messed up, and how he should have reacted differently. Part of him wondered if Izumi was feeling that way and just covering it up while another part just admired that she wasn't held back too much by it.

"All done!" Tomoki exclaimed, gathering most of the apples in his arms and heading over to the fire that Junpei had just started up. It looked like dinner would be ready soon, which was great news to Kouji's growling tummy.

They sat about the fire, waiting for the apples to cook and debating when to wake up Takuya. He hadn't moved an inch from his spot. Junpei was all for waking Takuya up while the apples were still cooking, but everyone else agreed that they should let him sleep as much as possible.

While they were waiting, Bokomon pulled out his book and started to ramble about the Forest Terminal. It confused the lot that they were in the Forest Kingdom, not the terminal, until Bokomon explained it. The terminal itself was where the trailmon docked. He suspected there was something waiting for them there, though he couldn't imagine what.

"It could be a trap," Junpei suggested. "We don't even know who it is talking to us through these things!" He pulled out his digivice and flipped it in his palm. "Maybe it's one of Cherubimon's goons."

"If it is, then they've been helping us all along," Kouji replied. "Or tricking us. But we really don't have much of a choice. What else would we do?"

Junpei looked like he was ready to tell Kouji exactly what he thought the pony-tailed-boy should do when Izumi spoke up.

"Yeah, it's not like we have any other clues. We just need to be on guard when we get there, right?"

Tomoki nodded wordlessly.

A moment later, the meat apples were ready, and the lot tried to wake Takuya so he could eat. It took Kouji sitting on him and shaking him by the collar to get the goggle-head to wake up. The lot ate their fill, relaxed for a bit, and then started to work out the sleeping arrangements.

Takuya was already passed out again, so he was excluded from watch duty that night. That left Kouji, Junpei, and Izumi to take turns. Izumi volunteered to take the first watch, which Junpei disagreed with.

"You don't even have your spirit anymore!" he yelled.

"Keep your voice down!" Izumi scolded him. "And I don't need a spirit to watch the fire. Honestly. If we get attacked, I'll wake you guys up."

Kouji agreed, as did Tomoki, leaving Junpei the odd one out.

"Fine, whatever. Apparently I'm the only one who cares that you don't have your spirit," Junpei huffed as he laid down to sleep. "I'll take the last watch. Wake me up when it's my turn."

Izumi frowned at Junpei's back, wondering why on earth he was getting so worked up. Kouji didn't really care, and he said he was fine with second watch. Tomoki laid down to sleep as well, with Bokomon and Neemon close behind him. That left Kouji and Izumi sitting around the fire, staring silently at its flames.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Izumi asked after several minutes of quiet.

"Not tired," came Kouji's short reply.

"Really? I mean you fought Takuya and all..."

"Still not tired."

Izumi shrugged. "Alright, whatever. But I don't need help keeping watch if that's why you're staying up." She sent him a glare, just in case she'd been right about that statement.

"It's not."

Izumi shrugged again, picking up a stick and poking at the fire.

It was getting awkward for Izumi. He wasn't saying anything, and neither was she. The night was quiet, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire, and Takuya's record breaking snores. Every few minutes, she'd send a look Kouji's way. He was just staring intently at the fire every time she looked at him. Izumi didn't even think he was actually moving at all. What was so fascinating about the fire?

Around the fourth or fifth time she looked at him, she noticed a couple of small twigs stuck in his pony tail. At first she didn't care, the only thought being 'Boys! Of course he wouldn't care about that!'. But after several more minutes passed, the offending twigs bothered her more and more. Probably about a half hour of silence and twig-glaring later, Izumi finally raised her hands with a mini-growl and marched over to him.

"What's wrong?" Kouji asked in a hurried voice. He assumed there was danger and moved into a crouched position to get ready to fight.

"There are twigs in your hair!" Izumi complained, pointing at the invaders in his pony tail with a glare.

"There's... what?"

"Twigs! In your hair!"

"And... that's why you got up?" If Izumi hadn't been so bothered by the twigs, she might have laughed at the confused expression on his face.

"Yes it is. Fix it."

Kouji just blinked at her for a moment. Izumi wasn't backing down, instead watching him and waiting for him to do what she said.

Silently, Kouji reached behind him to undo his pony tail and run his fingers through his hair. A few twigs came out before he went to bind the hair again.

"No no, you didn't get them all!" Izumi complained as she moved behind him to do it for him.

"What are you - "

"Oh shut up and let me get it. Honestly, boys. Long hair like this and you don't even take care of it!" she scolded, runing her fingers through his hair to get the offensive items out. A second later, she was done. "There!"

A tinge of red had creeped across Kouji's cheeks, embarrassed that there were twigs in his hair to begin with, and that she'd had to fix it for him. His hands moved to bind his pony tail again without a word.

After a while of even more silence, Kouji finally decided to lay down and get some sleep before it was his turn to take over. The rest of the night went on just as quietly, even with Takuya's snoring.


	4. Between Ep 16 and 17

"But you have an idea of the direction, right?" Takuya asked as he picked up a rather large piece of wood and stuffed it under his arm.

"The map is quite small, Takuya. But yes, I have an inkling of which direction we need to head in," came Bokomon's tired response.

"Then we'll be fine!"

"Oh really. We had a difficult enough time just trying to make it to an island we could see. What makes you think it will be easy to make it to the Autumn Leaf Fair, young man? Hmmmm?"

"We'll make it, that's all. It's destiny!"

Bokomon rolled his eyes. Sometimes the lad's optimism was tiring, though he guessed it was a rather admirable quality. He had always considered himself as more of a realist, and dreamy optimists were more or less idiots. Takuya was definitely an idiot more often than not, but Bokomon did admire the strength it took for the boy to always look for the good in things.

Several paces away, Junpei had managed to pull Kouji away from gathering wood for their fire to discuss whether or not their raft would be able to make the distance to the Autumn Leaf Fair. Junpei sketched out possible additions to the raft in the sand with a thin twig.

"So you see, we'll really need a mass about this large and - "

"You've got to be joking," Kouji interjected.

"What? No! Look, we can do this if we just gather enough wood!"

"If you're drawing to scale, that thing is almost twenty feet tall. The raft isn't even half that size."

"Right! So we'll just have to extend it and - "

"How about a reality check. We make repairs to it, but seriously that's just ridiculous."

Kouji was definitely more of a realist like himself, Bokomon mused. Junpei was something of both the idealist and the realist. He listened to the two bicker back and forth about the likely hood of a twenty foot mass only for a second more before moving over to where Izumi and Tomoki set up stones in a circle for their fire.

"How are you feeling, Izumi?" Bokomon asked, sitting down at the half-made circle.

"Fine, I guess," she responded with a raised brow and a confused tone. "Why?"

"Well everyone else was utterly exhausted when they first beast spirit evolved. Junpei slept the whole time we were with Whamon! You don't even look worn out. I'm flabbergasted."

"Yeah, I guess... Maybe learning to control the spirit is what takes it out of everyone," she said with a shrug as she placed another stone.

"It was really cool how you controlled it like that, though," Tomoki chirped in an excited voice. "I hope I'm as cool as that!"

"Well you need to get your detector back for that to happen, young man," Bokomon reminded him. Tomoki's shoulders slumped.

"What if we can't catch them...?"

"Don't think like that, Tomoki. Of course we'll catch them," Izumi said gently. Tomoki was a realist too, Bokomon decided. And Izumi was the optimist. Three realists, two optimists, and one inbetween. Bokomon felt the group was quite balanced with himself and the humans. Neemon was neither a realist or an optimist. To be considered either, one had to pay attention to their surroundings. Neemon mostly just took naps.

Takuya walked over with an armful of wood and plopped them down next to the circle of stones. "That should be enough," he said confidently.

"We'll see," Izumi responded as she eyed the pile of wood. It was a healthy amount, but whether or not it would be enough for a fire was another question. At least it didn't need to last the whole night with how warm the island was. At least, she hoped it wouldn't need to. As she reached for a few sticks to start making the fire, she opened her mouth to ask about what they were going to eat. It was then that a large group of Gommamon appeared before them.

"To thank you for all your help, we decided to bring you dinner!" they said in unison, excited tones and happy smiles coming from each and every one of them. They held out fish and shellfish for the kids to take and cook.

"Oh, wow!" Takuya exclaimed, looking on at the feast they were being presented. "Man this will fill us up for a week! I was still full from the food the Toucanmon made us. But maaaaaaaan this'll be great!"

"Yeah, that's more than enough for everyone. Supremo!"

"Well bless my buttons!" Bokomon agreed.

"Wow is that all for us?" Junpei asked as he came over to see what the commotion was about, Kouji in tow.

"We can't eat all of that," Kouji speculated.

"Well we can try!"

Kouji rolled his eyes at Junpei's exclamation.

"Kouji's right, we can't. Why don't you guys have dinner with us?" Takuya offered. The smiles on the Gommamons' faces told the gang they accepted. It wasn't much later that everyone, human and digimon alike, were sitting about the fire, chowing down on seafood and just having a rather good time despite the circumstances. Bokomon ended up eating the most, claiming he had to eat twice as much since he was with egg. No one questioned it aloud.

Soon the sun began to set, and the talk of sleeping arrangements began.

"Don't worry about a thing," one Gommamon replied when the gang mentioned sleeping in rounds. "We'll keep watch over you. You'll be safe! Everyone should get some rest." The group seemed skeptical considering the last group of digimon that seemed rather helpful robbed them blind, leaving the boys more or less useless. But they really didn't have anything left to steal, aside from Izumi's spirit. And that would be easy enough to protect. The group accepted the offer with happy faces.

Izumi was the first to lay down to sleep. Her evolution did take a bit out of her after all, and her eyelids felt heavier and heavier by the second. It wasn't long before soft snoring could be heard from where she laid.

"I was beginning to think she was a robot," Takuya joked, poking at the slowly dying fire. "Controls her beast spirit like it's nothing, and doesn't even get tired? Insane."

Kouji shrugged. "It's a good thing she did, though. We would have been toast if she couldn't control it." He was resting against a palm tree with his arms folded behind his neck. With his eyes closed, Takuya almost thought the other boy was falling asleep too, until he spoke.

"That's for sure," Junpei agreed. "Man, she was really amazing out there today." That earned him a look from everyone still awake. "What?"

"You almost jumped in after her," Kouji reminded him.

"Y-yeah? So what! She needed help!"

"No, she didn't."

Junpei stared at Kouji, the latter having now opened his eyes. "What are you getting at, huh?"

"I'm saying she was pretty impressive, and that she didn't need help."

Junpei just continued to stare at Kouji, still completely confused. Tomoki, who had been silent throughout all of this, kept looking between the two and trying to figure out what was going on. Takuya didn't seem to care and just kept poking at the fire.

"Just spit out what you mean already!"

"You don't need to worry about her. She can handle herself just fine, so don't throw yourself into danger for her sake."

"You're saying I shouldn't help her? I'm not heartless like you!" Junpei looked ready to either storm off or throw something at Kouji. Kouji didn't look even a little bit perturbed.

"I'm saying you should trust her more."

Junpei's anger dissipated at that sentence. He continued to stare at Kouji, waiting for him to finish what he was saying. But it appeared that Kouji was finished since he closed his eyes. Trust Izumi more? Junpei was about to argue that he did trust her completely, but part of him knew what Kouji was saying. Trust that she could take care of herself. It was true, Izumi was completely capable of doing that. Junpei found he couldn't argue, for once, and he just looked back at the fire. Several silent moments later, Junpei announced that he was going to sleep and moved away from the fire to find a decent spot to pass out. It wasn't until heavy snoring from Junpei came that someone spoke.

"You coulda just said he scared you," Takuya spoke up, eyeing Kouji with a grin.

"Who's scared? He's just going to get himself killed if he keeps jumping into danger just because he thinks Izumi can't handle herself."

"Yeah, and you almost lost your grip on him holding him back."

"Tch."

Tomoki looked between Takuya and Kouji this time, still remaining silent and trying to figure out what was going on. Sometimes he just didn't understand other people.

A moment later, Bokomon could be heard a little farther down the shore yelling at Neemon about keeping his dirty hands off of the egg. That was when Tomoki finally said something.

"Bokomon's sure going nuts over Seraphimon's egg, huh?"

"Nuts is one word for it," Takuya laughed. "Alright, I think it's time for some shut eye myself. What do you think, Tomoki?"

"Yeah, I can sleep."

The two rose from the campfire and found themselves a nice little place to call it a night, too, leaving Kouji the only one near the fire. He remained where he was, having found his place to sleep a long time ago. He was still awake when the fire finally died down. The stars were bright, the sky was clear, and the moons were full. It was altogether a very pleasant night. His eyes roamed over his friends' sleeping forms, partially wondering why he was always the last one awake, and also thinking about the day's events. Takuya was right on the money when he said Kouji was worried. Junpei almost jumped into a whirlpool after Izumi. Even if she hadn't come out of it alright, it wouldn't have been worth it to lose two friends instead of one. He really was glad Izumi was alright, though. The day had been taxing on everyone, and he just hoped the journey to the Autumn Leaf Fair would be a smooth one.

In the morning, they would have to repair the raft, gather provisions, and head out. Sleeping on the raft would be difficult, so this could very well be the last night in a few days that he could get some decent shut-eye. With a sigh, he snuggled into the sand as best he could and tried to sleep. It came to him soon enough, and the gang slept peacefully under the watchful eyes of the Gommamon, not too far away.

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the delay with this chapter. I was sick for almost a solid two weeks - no joke!


	5. Between Ep 17 and 18

Tomoki tapped the glass again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Izumi asked, clearly getting annoyed with the tapping against the window. She sat beside Tomoki on the bench inside the Trailmon they were riding. Tomoki was sitting on his knees and facing the window he kept tapping away at.

"It's cold," he murmured as he righted himself.

"Well yeah, it was snowing just a minute ago."

"It just felt cool, that's all." Tomoki sounded like he was pouting.

"You must be really bored," Junpei commented, sitting across from them. Takuya was next to him, and then Kouji was down a little farther, taking in some much needed alone time. Bokomon was pacing up and down the aisle, and Neemon was sleeping in the rafters above their heads for cargo.

"I never thought I'd miss walking so much," Tomoki said as confirmation for his boredom. Izumi had won Trailmon passes at the Autumn Leaf Fair while trying to find the boys' spirits. It had been quite the adventure, winning contests, finding the lost spirits, battling Petaldramon, and Tomoki finding his beast spirit. It really was quite something. When they were told to head to the Rose Morning Star, none of them had been looking forward to walking all that way, especially with their tiring day. It had seemed almost like a god-send when Izumi remembered the Trailmon passes, though now they realized that walking had been quite a bit more entertaining. They slept just fine on the cushioned benches, but there wasn't much else to do while they waited for the next stop to stretch their legs.

"Yeah, it's kinda weird, isn't it?" Takuya asked with a smirk. "We'll get out at some point to get some food. Til then, we should just enjoy this. We probably won't get to ride in comfort very much after this!"

"Yeah, I guess," Tomoki agreed, but his tone suggested he really wasn't going to be able to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

A moment later, Junpei pulled out a ball from one of his many pockets and a hankerchief. "What's this? A surprise performance from Howie-Do-Dat?!"

Tomoki's face lit up at the idea of having some entertainment. Izumi and Takuya both looked amused, but an audible groan came from Kouji's form. He was sprawled across the bench he held alone, pretending to sleep. With his groan, though, it was clear he wasn't actually sleeping.

"What's this? A volunteer?" Junpei teased in a loud tone.

"Don't," came Kouji's clipped reply.

"Well I was in need for a beautiful assistant, but if you're so eager, you'll have to do!" Junpei continued, walking over to Kouji.

"No."

"What was that?" Junpei was smirking, amused by what he was about to do. Everyone else was watching with bated breath to see if Kouji would snap or go along with whatever Junpei had in mind. There was a time when they all thought he'd surely snap and get violent. Now, though, Kouji was their friend. They could tease him, tickle him, joke with him. Takuya was actually a little impressed with how they got the warrior of light to come out of his shell.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when Junpei pulled Kouji from the bench and started trying to force him to hold a ball in his hands, and all Kouji did was complain.

"Just hold it like that!" Junpei insisted.

"I said no!" Kouji yelled back. Junpei was actually a lot stronger than he looked considering he was easily able to hold Kouji in place while still trying to get the ball in his hands.

"You're ruining the trick!"

"I don't want to be part of the trick!"

The two stopped bickering with each other when Tomoki burst out into a hardy laugh. Kouji looked embarrassed, but Junpei looked pleased with himself.

It was several hours later, long after the sun had set, when Takuya got up and started pacing. Tomoki appeared to be fast asleep, Kouji and Junpei both well on their way. Neemon had been asleep since they left, and it seemed like Bokomon was catching some z's as well. The only other person left awake was Izumi.

"Getting antsy?" Izumi questioned, watching Takuya pace back and forth.

"Huh? Oh, sorry... thought you were asleep too."

"Clearly you thought wrong."

"Yeah..."

Takuya kept pacing despite his audience. Around his third or forth lap, Izumi finally spoke up again.

"What's wrong?"

"Just anxious."

"I can see that." She smirked, then patted the seat next to her. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I don't want to sit down. I can't."

"Why?"

"Just... thinking."

Izumi rolled her eyes. Why was Takuya being so difficult? If she had to ask why again, she was going to throw something at him.

"Thinking about the Rose Morning Star," he went on. "What do you think is out there?"

"Oh... no idea."

"Right. What if it's bad? What if it's some sort of enemy we have to beat?"

"It probably is." Izumi raised a blonde brow at Takuya, trying to figure out where all of this was coming from. He wasn't usually the sort that got worried. "Is there a reason you're worrying about it now?"

"Eh, I guess Kouji's rubbing off on me," he said with a shrug.

"Really? He didn't seem too worried to me. And Junpei hasn't complained about it yet either."

"That's because we haven't had to walk yet," Takuya joked. "I don't know... guess I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Don't know how to handle so many thoughts?"

"No, I really... hey." Takuya narrowed his eyes at Izumi as she giggled. He was a little embarrassed that it took him a moment to realize she was calling him an air-head.

"Relax, I'm just trying to cheer you up!"

"By teasing me?"

"Naturally." Izumi giggled again. Takuya rolled his eyes, but he did finally sit down. It seemed the teasing did the trick, and at least calmed him down enough to stop the pacing. He'd never admit to her that it actually helped, though. "Just try to get some sleep, Takuya."

"Yeah, yeah. You do the same."

As the two retired to their own benches to get some sleep, Neemon finally woke up and decided to wake Bokomon up as well with a few pokes. Bokomon snapped at him, complained about needing sleep, and then rolled away. Neemon managed to fall back asleep as well. The night went on like that, someone waking up momentarily, and then rolling back over to sleep. Even though they had comfortable benches to sleep on, all of them were getting antsy without having to move around much. Tomoki had a dream about running, and he suddenly felt the need to move his legs. He walked into the other cars, up and down, not really going anywhere.

It was while he was in another car that Kouji woke up. As per his usual, he stretched, and then checked to see that all his friends were sleeping peacefully. This time, though, one little dreamer was not in his bunk. Worried, Kouji pulled his shoes back on and began searching the other cars for his small friend. It was two cars down that he found Tomoki.

"Kouji?" Tomoki asked when Kouji entered the car.

"What are you doing?" Kouji questioned.

"Just walking."

"Alone... in the dark... in the middle of the night?"

"You do it, don't you?" Tomoki hopped up onto one of the benches and pulled his hat down over his eyes.

"Uh... yeah, I guess. You don't, though."

"Well maybe I do now."

Kouji was confused. It was obvious Tomoki needed to get something off his chest, but Kouji was the absolute last person anyone should ever go to to ease their mind. He was terrible with people, and even worse with emotions. Still, he didn't want to head back without Tomoki, and Tomoki didn't seem like he was in a hurry to leave the car they were in.

"Uh... you wanna... talk about it?" Kouji asked awkwardly after several moments of silence passed.

"Talk about what?" Tomoki sounded like he was nearing tears, something Kouji really didn't want to deal with.

"Whatever it is that's bugging you."

"Nothing's bugging me."

Kouji huffed. "Yeah ok, look. If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool. But lying isn't helping anything. Lying badly is even worse." He wasn't even sure what the kid had to be upset about. Tomoki just got his beast spirit, so shouldn't he be happy? Everyone else was. Even Kouji felt satisfaction when he got his beast spirit, like he was accomplishing the mission he had been chosen to complete. So what did the kid have to be upset about?

"You don't actually want to talk to me," Tomoki pointed out, sounding more like he was whining than actually making an accusation. He wasn't wrong, though. Kouji really didn't want to talk, especially since it seemed like whatever Tomoki needed to talk about was going to bring on tears.

Another moment of silence passed, without Kouji confirming or denying Tomoki's statement. Finally, Kouji just decided to turn and leave.

"Takuya seemed really worried earlier... When he was pacing," Tomoki spoke up suddenly, stopping Kouji from leaving. Tomoki still had his at pulled down, so Kouji couldn't see his expression to try and get a read on him. It wasn't likely that Kouji would be able to read much from Tomoki anyway. What Tomoki said confused Kouji. He wasn't sure what he meant by Takuya pacing, so he figured it must have happened after he'd dozed off. He didn't think it was in Takuya's nature to be worried, though. It was something that always bothered Kouji. Takuya didn't get worried, or consider the fact that they may fail. It was both admirable and stupid, and Kouji wasn't sure if he liked the quality in Takuya or abhorred it.

There was more silence. Kouji realized that this was perhaps the time he was suppose to say something, but he wasn't sure at all what to say. Maybe just be honest and admit he wasn't sure what Tomoki was talking about? That seemed like a good plan. He opened his mouth to say just that, but then Tomoki continued on.

"What if there's a trap or something waiting for us at the Rose Morning Star. Or what if we never make it? Or what if we can't do whatever it is we're suppose to do there? If Takuya's worried, shouldn't I be too?" Tomoki really seemed like he was on the verge of tears now, and Kouji almost panicked. He hadn't even said anything and the kid was freaking out! Did he try and get him to calm down? Answer his questions? Kouji didn't even know what the answers were, other than they'd find out when they got there.

"But I guess we won't know until we get there, huh?" Tomoki sniffled, speaking the words as Kouji thought them. "Yeah, that's right. No use worrying about it until we get there, right?" There was another sniffle, and then Tomoki wiped at his eyes. "Right! No more worrying! We just gotta get there, that's all!" The words sounded enthusiastic, and Kouji was baffled by the turn of Tomoki's mood. Had he worked himself up into a panic, and then cheered himself up?

Tomoki hopped off of the bench, lifted up his hat, and grinned at Kouji. "Thanks for listening. It really helped!"

"Uh... sure..." Kouji mumbled as Tomoki hurried by him, apparently ready to sleep now. Was that how talking things out was suppose to work? Kouji was so confused, all he could do was shake his head and shrug. Whatever, at least Tomoki was feeling better and getting ready to sleep.

The next day held an adventure none of them had predicted, full of Trailmon, races, and cheating digimon. But for the moment, everyone was trying to rest as best they could on a train, on the tracks, in a very different world.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was sooooo hard to write. I might go back and fix things later, but for now I'm done with it. I rewrote the interaction between Kouji and Tomoki a couple of times, and there was suppose to be another interaction before everyone woke up, but I decided to leave that for another chapter.


End file.
